The Payne Diaries - Max Payne 1 - Part 3

That rage from three years earlier had resurfaced…

I couldn’t believe it, Alex was dead and gone. The realization had hit me like a freight train and then some. I wanted to grieve, wanted to do something for the man. The circumstances wouldn’t allow it, though. Just as quickly as the killing shot fired, several armed thugs came hollering down the staircase to the right. I wish I could’ve held back, those men were just underlings, sent out to do what they did best in their respective fields. However, the way my brain snapped, instead of holding back I ended up holding two smoking barrels. I couldn’t remember how many of them there were, I just knew how many were now gone. I was at the subway exit now, my mind allowing me to pick up my surroundings. I looked back one last time and muttered a final prayer to Alex. Then I was off.

Alex’s hit, the bank robbery, Valkyrie, this case was going off-rails faster than an aging wrestler. It had Jack Lupino written all over it. He was planning to use me as the fall guy which, to his credit, was a good plan. The police and Jack were bound to know I was in the subway, therefore why not orchestrate something to get me off his back? Rather than dwell on things, however, I needed to get moving. I knew where to head to next, The Hotel.



Making my way to the entrance, I played it cool. Like I had been a “customer” time and time again. Once I got a ways in, I met up with the Finito Brothers. They were a couple of wise guys on Lupino’s pay grade, not that they cared all that much. As long as the money was fast they were happy to take whatever Lupino offered. Moving into their office space, one of the brothers recognized me and started to verbally remark that my name was a bit out of the ordinary. Mouthing off aside, they knew why I was there. I was looking for their boss and the last thing that they wanted was for me to stop their source of income. They were quick, quicker than I would’ve thought. Both brothers had their guns out and pointed at me within seconds, but I matched them with the same speed. It was the most one-sided Mexican standoff I’d ever been a part of. The easiest too.

Shots rang out in the hotel. I was lucky enough to find some cover before the Finito Brothers could fill me full of lead. I took a breath and assessed the situation. Two against one, that wasn’t very fair odds for them. I remembered my trick back in the subway station and decided it was time for a leap of faith. Sure enough, I missed my initial target, but I still managed to hit the Finito standing in the back. I wouldn’t call it luck, it was more along the lines of dumbfounded success. That made me feel better. I didn’t have a plan, I had incoherent success at my side. I stood up and moved to cover to avoid the other Finito’s fire, he was on me like flies on shit. I don’t think he was all that pleased about losing his brother. An angry man with a gun, just what I needed. I took a shot in the dark and fired blindly, hoping to hit something. Anything. That’s when I heard a thud. Looking around from where I was entrenched, I had managed to hit the other brother. Lucky me.

I looked around the room for anything that might lead me to Lupino. There was knocking and shouting at the office’s entrance. I had to move faster. I found a note on a desk that mentioned one Rico Muerte was going to be heading to the hotel for a “V-Deal” with the Finito Brothers in room 313. V-Deal? Valkyrie most likely. If there was a deal going down, I was going to be a part of it, and since the brothers were recently deceased, I couldn’t leave Mr. Muerte stag could I? Just as I put down the note, the door burst open. Great, off to the races.

I fought The Brothers’ thugs throughout the length of the rundown hotel, blood splattered from room to room. The smell of gunpowder was becoming like a drug to me. I kept firing, kept killing, hoping there would be a point when I wouldn’t have to do this anymore. I knew though, knew in my heart that this is what my life held. Maybe I could help myself one day, but until then, this was all I understood. A television in one the rooms snapped me out of my mental downward spiral. The reporter on screen said that the police were in pursuit of me and I was considered to be armed and dangerous. Cute, but I couldn’t stand here and watch T.V. all day. I had to get to room 313.

Eventually, after dealing with more of Finito’s men, I had arrived at my destination. Room 313 was the meeting place where Rico was going to find me instead of the Brothers. Without wishing to waste anymore time, I pushed the door open. There was the sound of clicking. Sort of like gears turning. The door continued to open and for a brief glimpse, I caught it. There was a shotgun rigged to go off, without wishing to mimic a deer in the headlights, I got out of the way at the last second. Why a rigged shotgun? What was going on in this hotel? My thoughts would have to wait as two more thugs entered in through double doors labeled “Exit”. Still high on the adrenaline of dodging a buckshot to the chest, I managed to fire off two quick rounds and take care of my immediate problem. I sighed and waited for any other signs of movement. None.

I, more cautiously than before, moved back into position and peered inside room 313. I caught sight of another note on the desk. Was that from Rico himself? I didn’t want to enter out of fear for other traps that may linger, but I had no choice. I had to get to the bottom of what this was all about. Checking my corners, I reached the note on the desk and proceeded to pick it up. It was from, none other, than the Don of the Punchinello family. Funny, I thought, the deepest the boys in blue were able to get into the Valkyrie drug case was Jack Lupino. But now, I had in my hands a note from the Don himself telling Mr. Muerte to finish some “business” in regards to the V-Deal. Frankly, I didn’t care anymore.

In my eyes, everyone was going down...